I am 38 years old, 306 pounds, and my entire life I have struggled with my weight. I have also been told, and believed that the Earth was flat, so I am struggling with the comprehension that I should be eating more meat and less wheat. Grok is telling me that the Earth is indeed round. I am trying to undue 38 years of "knowledge"

However, I have been so predisposed to the "Fat is Bad" theory that I worry that I may drop dead by Saturday morning at this rate. I do feel a little better. And my nasty addiction to Chocolate has been pretty tamed. But I am still worried. I mean, 1000mg of Cholesterol consumed in 1 day? That's insane right? Or is it?

And look where that "knowledge" got you after 38 years of blind belief. After all the crap you've been consuming you choose NOW to worry about cholesterol and fat numbers???

Humans evolved and thrived from the beginning of time eating animal fat, and some fatty plants, depending on the region. Industrial seed oils didn't exist until 100 years ago. Canola and soy only since the 60s or 70s. Same with High Fructose Corn Syrup, or the damn omnipresent soy. Wrap your brain around that!

Stop eating numbers, and start eating real food. Trust that your body know what to do with real food.

Suspend disbelief and try it for 30 days or 21 days. Keep a journal and record everything that seems relevant: hunger, weight, digestion, joint pain, skin condition, energy..... At the end of the trial period make a decision based on all of the above.

No diet will kill you within a month (although the guy that did Supersize Me came pretty close).

At your age and weight (and especially if you are male) the results should be evident, perhaps dramatic.

Just wanted to add my encouragement. It is very hard to go against long-held beliefs. But consider that you are literally MADE of red meat, that cholesterol is a fundamental building block for all sorts of hormones and things your body needs, and that humans evolved to store energy reserves as fat (much of it saturated). Leaving aside the classic debunkings of our mass diet hysteria (which are worth reading): Does it make intuitive, a priori sense to you that any of these things should be toxic or harmful when consumed?

FWIW I started worse off than you, to the extent such things can be quantified: 39yo, 340+ lbs, borderline diabetic, severe apnea, and a host of other problems. Went from grain-dominated eating to ~2800 cal of whole/minimally processed foods in 1 or 2 daily meals: 60-70% of cals from fat, usually 50-100g total carb, no grains or processed crap. Not an imposed limit, just eating to satiety. Walked as much as I could (which ended up being quite a lot as I got in better shape) and have introduced some running now that my knees can take it. Coming up on 2 years, I'm now sitting at 215 lb with much improved lab #s and feeling about 20 years younger.

Welcome and best of luck...you're on the right track.

6' 2" | Age: 42 | SW: 341 | CW: 198 | GW: 180?

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

It's the saturated animal fat that cures everything. Or rather, it's the attempt to blame that for poor health and avoid it in favor of crappy industrial seed oils that is the primary cause of most of our illnesses. Spend some time reading That Paleo Guy's website and it'll start to make more sense.

In addition to the good comments above, I'd add that grains are what farmers feed cows to fatten them up quickly. Grass-fed cows take longer to fatten and usually don't get as large. Grains are cheap and nutritionally worthless filler food, and even "whole grains" are usually refined to the point that they are basically the equivalent to a giant dose of sugar to your system.

Avoid processed foods. They are the mega-whammy of grains, sugars, and industrial oils. The longer you stay Primal, the clearer this becomes. You will eventually see all your old food choices as having disturbing consequences to health - not only weight, per se, but to all aspects of health.

Your body uses all sorts of fats, the polyunsaturated fats in nuts and fishes, the saturated fats in red meat, the monounsaturated fats in olive oil. Fats are usually delivered in some combination of the three, as in the case of lard, about 45% saturated and 55% unsaturated (oleic acid, just like olive oil). Ditch the tired metaphors of "artery-clogging saturated fats." Your arteries are not toilets, and bacon is not a bowl-clogger. Think of fats as a spectrum of stability, with saturated fats the MOST stable against rancidity and oxidation, monounsaturated being very stable, and polyunsaturated ("healthy") fats as being very unstable, almost as bad as trans-fats. (Polyunsaturated fats - PUFAs - are more stable in whole food sources like fish and nuts, but nuts go rancid easily, and fish will turn fishy if not used quickly.) Why are PUFAs (soy, vegetable, corn, canola oils) pushed so hard? Because they return giant profits. How much profit does my local farmer get from selling me some nice lard, as opposed to what Wesson makes off of vegetable oil?

Refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), agave nectar, all these are just pushed onto you mercilessly. We're kids in a candy store to food manufacturers. Avoid at all costs. Again, cheap food = big profits. Grain is cheap. Industrial oils are cheap. Sugar and HFCS is cheap.

Eat quality foods. Whenever possible remember that there is also a spectrum of whole foods, where grass-fed beef and pastured pork and chicken is better than industrially-raised, and locally-grown produce using organic and sustainable methods may result in more nutritious produce.

See past the advertising, the cascade error of CW repeated numbingly, question and question some more. Eat well, play often, and enjoy.

Even if you aren't totally sold, just try it for at least a month (or, ideally, a few months) and then see how you feel. Educationally, definitely watch 'Fathead' and watch the related lecture on Youtube called 'Big Fat Fiasco'.